IF YOU are a fan of Asian cuisine, from the Malaysian laksa to the Japanese tempura, DimYum can be your perfect destination.
On March 17, I and SunStar Davao editor RJ Lumawag had our lunch at this place located right at the corner of Loyola and Sobrecarey Streets, Obrero, Davao City. We ordered a number of dishes, including their new product shrimp balls, laksa and hainanese rice.
As we enjoyed a mouthful meal, we had a short chitchat with Alec Jovero, the 29-year-old owner of the soon-to-be one-year-old home-grown restaurant.
Jovero narrated that since he and his family are a fan of Chinese dishes and had frequently visited some Chinese restaurants in the city, he thought of establishing his own, but “without MSG (monosodium glutamate)” and even better “price-wise and taste-wise.”
“Almost everybody is a foodie. I'm a lover of food myself, especially Chinese food! The food business may be very competitive, and aside from the money, I love producing great food. I cannot imagine doing anything else that does not involve food,” the former chef of a five-star hotel here said.
When asked why he chose to make his array of offerings wider, he had this to say, “The Asian or Chinese kitchen is very different compared to other cultures. I was luckily trained inside the Chinese kitchen. It takes grit and a lot of hard work to cook comfortably inside a Chinese kitchen.”
“During the course of my training (in the hotel’s Chinese nook), I discovered fulfillment in a very challenging environment, so I decided to push through with it. I love Chinese food but Davao needs to have a homegrown restaurant that serves other Asian flavors, Davaoeños need to taste the other cuisines of Asia, too,” he added.
He shared that the manner of cooking, the spices, the richness in flavor and the challenge were his ultimate reasons why he really pushed through with his plan of setting-up his own resto.
To keep up with the competition, Jovero does not just sit on his laurel. He makes sure that he continually upgrades what DimYum offers.
“We do not want to settle with our food, we constantly want to improve more. We ask for feedbacks from different people to make room for improvement. My wife and I try our best to be hands on to keep in touch with our customers,” he said.
The young entrepreneur noted as well that they are more than just a dimsum house, especially that “we have the widest selection of ala carte in our menu.”
They serve Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, Chinese and a few Japanese dishes.
“We put our heart in every dish we make. We are very generous with flavor and we never sell our customers short,” he said. “The customers really get what they pay for.”
With his constant visit to different parts of the world, he continuously gets fresh ideas on how to improve their menu. In fact, they even travel to buy new spices and develop better flavor.
“We research. We ask input from our friends who are professional chefs in different kinds of restaurants,” he said.
In the coming months, expect another DimYum branch to rise in Davao City.
DimYum is open daily, from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
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